GameStop has been in sizzling water for a while now. However the firm’s CEO, Ryan Cohen, ought to come away comparatively unscathed, as a result of, because of CNN, we now know he’ll rating a $35 billion payout if the storefront hits a $100 billion market cap. One small concern: that’s about 10 instances its present worth. How is Cohen planning on getting it there? Because of a Polygon report, we all know that he intends to shut a whole lot of shops and to supply prospects a 20 p.c trade-in bonus by way of a QR code. Though we don’t have concrete numbers on precisely what number of shops have been shut down, a submit on a weblog that tracks GameStop closures studies that near 400 shops have both already been closed this month or are set to be closed earlier than the month is over.
The commerce coupon, in the meantime, was shared on the official GameStop Reddit web page by a person who posted their frustration concerning the closure of their native retailer, saying “GameStop actually put a commerce coupon on my native shops closing signal?” In that very same thread, the unique poster voiced their frustrations by calling it “a fucking joke,” whereas others said that they’ve begun canceling pre-orders.
It’s additionally value noting that GameStop closed 590 shops in 2024, in keeping with a December 2025 SEC submitting. The submitting goes on to state that the corporate plans on “closing a major variety of further shops in fiscal 2025.” That is essential as a result of the 2025 fiscal 12 months ends on January 31, 2026, which implies extra shops may shut sooner fairly than later. GameStop has additionally been closing tales throughout varied international locations worldwide. The identical SEC Submitting states that the corporate has already “exited” operations in Austria, Eire, and Switzerland. In 2024, it additionally closed down retailer operations in Germany whereas promoting off its Italian subsidiary.
Even because it shuts down shops en masse, GameStop has been doing every thing it could to get consideration again on the storefront over the previous few months, partnering with standard influencers corresponding to Casey Neistat and Mega64, and even with Rilie Huntley, a well-liked e-girl who initially went viral over a Greatest Purchase advert. Only recently, the corporate had a “commerce something day“ which noticed individuals bringing in all types of issues, together with intercourse toys. Just some days earlier, the GameStop card loot program led to a record-breaking $30,000 trade-in.
